Product Development, Modelling and Simulation, Rig and Field Tests in Vehicle Engineering in the fields of Railways and Material Handling Technology.

Research Focus

Every system in transportation and material handling is a transport system. At the IFS we primarily deal with the transportation system railways including its interfaces to other transport systems. In the middle of our efforts stands the transport means railway vehicle. Furthermore we do research in the area of material handling focused on the hauling means of discontinuous conveyors in the fields of intralogistics and mobile working machinery.

We develop concepts for innovative vehicles and their subsystems and components according to the latest design methodologies. Therefore we are founding on our core competencies like system dynamics and wheel/rail guidance technology, light weight design and structural mechanics as well as mechatronics.

In the area of fundamental research we look after the optimization of the wheel/rail interface as well as the exploration of possibilities to use generative production technologies in the field of railways and material handling.

Additional aspects of research are the development of assistance systems in terms of Smart Mobility and the investigation of possibilities of automating and autonomous driving as well as of technical solutions to shift more cargo traffic from road to rail.

In the area of material handling vehicles we develop innovative solutions due to the latest design methodology approaches. Again, our knowledge in systems and wheel/rail guidance technology as well as on light weight design and structural mechanics enables us to support the intralogistics branch with vehicle know-how.

Mobile working machinery is used in the agricultural, the construction and the forestry branches. Also those vehicles are used as two-way machines in the railway construction area. From a material handling point of view mobile working machines are discontinuous conveyors. At the IFS we develop assistance systems and light weight solutions for those vehicles.